


Turning Saints Into the Sea

by theorangewitch



Series: Angstober [4]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 07:42:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16193123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theorangewitch/pseuds/theorangewitch
Summary: So the only one missing was Miriai, Asherah’s first mate and best friend.Asherah sighed in spite of herself. This was the third night in the row that Miriai had disappeared from the tavern only to return the next morning. Unlike some of the rowdier crew members, Asherah trusted Miriai to not get into trouble. But three nights? Asherah knew Miriai better than anyone, and something was clearly wrong.She stood up and gave Rhiannon a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be right back, dear,” she said.“Don’t take too long,” Rhiannon replied. “I might get bored.”“I’ll be back before you know it,” Asherah assured her. She hoped. Things were rarely wrong with Miriai; she was a stable individual with few quirks of personality and even fewer traumas. But when things were wrong with her, they were really wrong.





	Turning Saints Into the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of Angstober - Jealousy! This time featuring my very first D&D character :')
> 
> You can find a link to the challenge in the notes of the first work of this series.

The life of a sailor was a good one. At least, in Asherah’s experience, it was. Maybe it wouldn’t be satisfactory to the upper crust of the continent’s larger cities, but Asherah had known a truly bad life, and this wasn’t it. It was the best kind of life while she was at sea, but it had its perks on land as well.

This evening’s perk was named Rhiannon, and she was a local woman known for the rich herbal teas she sold as well as her striking red hair. She was nestled up against Asherah with her head on her shoulder as the rest of Asherah’s crew got deeper and deeper into their cups. The tavern was small, and not exactly luxurious, but it was warm and its frequenters were friendly. She dropped her boots on the table, earning her a dirty look from the bartender, who she flashed a sheepish smile. They’d been to this town a few times, and he was used to the antics of  _ The Albatross _ ’ crew, which were actually relatively tame, compared to the antics of the other sailors who passed through. 

Rhiannon curled a strand of Asherah’s hair around her finger, and she could tell that Rhiannon was admiring her horns. Tieflings were rare on these islands, and though most feared her or at the very least gawked, there was the occasional Rhiannon who found her utterly fascinating. When she was younger, this fascination had spelled doom for her, but now, it was flattering. 

Asherah kissed Rhiannon’s cheek, which was smooth and soft. It was late, and she’d go to bed soon. But before she did, she scanned the tavern to make sure that the rest of her crew was accounted for. Delia was talking enthusiastically with Isael and Sadina. LaSalle was lying with her head on Dian’s lap as Dian talked to a pair of grizzled-looking patrons. Myrica, Anjali, Katsara, Tama, and Jenn were engaged in what appeared to be a heated game of Sankt. Myrica was winning, as usual. Asherah had learned early on not to play with her. People tended to underestimate her card shark tendencies because she was deaf, but she had talent through and through. Asherah was sitting across from the twins, Juno and Ceres, who were engaged in conversation with Juliana, Emara, and Myrrhine. She knew that her quartermaster Violetta, who lived by “early to bed, early to rise”, had already gone to bed. So the only one missing was Miriai, Asherah’s first mate and best friend. 

Asherah sighed in spite of herself. This was the third night in the row that Miriai had disappeared from the tavern only to return the next morning. Unlike some of the rowdier crew members, Asherah trusted Miriai to not get into trouble. But three nights? Asherah knew Miriai better than anyone, and something was clearly wrong. 

She stood up and gave Rhiannon a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be right back, dear,” she said. 

“Don’t take too long,” Rhiannon replied. “I might get bored.”

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Asherah assured her. She hoped. Things were rarely wrong with Miriai; she was a stable individual with few quirks of personality and even fewer traumas. But when things were wrong with her, they were  _ really _ wrong. 

When Asherah exited the tavern, Miriai wasn’t there. It took a while of wandering around to find her: loitering around the docks with her feet hanging off the end of the pier and a half-empty glass of whiskey in her hand. 

“Hey,” Asherah said as she walked up behind her. “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Miriai asked, her tone uncharacteristically sullen. 

“Because you’ve disappeared from the tavern three nights in a row now? Because you’re hanging around the docks staring at the water like you’ll see the face of your true love in the reflection?” 

Miriai sighed. “I’m surprised you noticed.”

It was all Asherah could do not to laugh. “Notice? How could I not  _ notice _ ? You’re my best friend; I’ve known you for over a decade, and you think I wouldn’t  _ notice _ ?”

Miriai shrugged. “You tend to get pretty wrapped up in whatever you’re doing.”

Asherah caught her meaning. “Rhiannon? Look, Rhiannon’s pretty, but she’s not forget-about-my-crew pretty.” 

Miriai downed the last of her whiskey and stared down into the ocean. It was obsidian black, and their reflections stared back at Asherah as she gazed down into its unknowable depths. “Crew, huh,” she muttered. She looked back up at Asherah. “Still, you think that sometimes you have a little too much fun?”

“No such thing, dear,” Asherah told her. “Besides, I’ve had a shitty life, I’m entitled to a little fun.”

“But at the expense of your crew?”

“You think Violetta cares who I sleep with? Or Myrica? Miriai, since when did this become a problem? I’ve been sleeping around and drinking a little too much since I became a captain. It’s never been an issue before now.”

“Maybe it has, you just didn’t notice,” Miriai snapped. 

“Because you didn’t tell me!” Asherah exclaimed. “I’m a  _ sailor _ , you’re a  _ sailor _ , your mom’s a  _ sailor _ , we’re all basically the same!” 

“And because of how you  _ sailors  _ are, I don’t know who my dad is,” Miriai retorted. “Don’t compare yourself to my mother.”

“C’mon, don’t play the ‘missing dad’ card now--” Asherah knew she’d messed up a split second after the words left her mouth. 

“It’s not a fucking  _ card _ !” Miriai shouted, stumbling to her feet, her boots scraping against the damp wood of the pier. “Do you know how it feels to grow up a bastard child?”

Asherah was going to apologize, she was, but she was suddenly overcome with a deep, fiery rage. “Of course I do!” she shouted back. “I grew up worse--I grew up a  _ slave _ , or did you forget?” 

Miriai’s face fell, her brown eyes shining in the moonlight. “Asherah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--”

“No, nobody ever fucking does! Nobody fucking means! I came out here to help you through whatever kinda shit you’re going through, but you just throw it all back in my face! No wonder I sleep with a new woman in every town, being around you guys is stifling!”

Miriai’s face went from guilty, to shocked, to hurt and angry all at once. “That’s a piece of shit thing to say, Ash.”

She should back down. She knew she should back down. Apologize to Miriai, comfort her, find reconciliation between them. But instead she lashed out again, “Why don’t you just let me do what I want? I’m a grown-ass woman.”

“Barely,” Miriai spat. “You act like a seventeen-year-old boy.”

“Tell me how you really feel, Mir,” Asherah snarked, rolling her eyes. 

“It’s true! You’re so committed to this stupid sailor persona of yours that you don’t even realize how you’re hurting people. You have no emotional intelligence.”

What hurt the most about Miriai’s words was that they were true. “How am I hurting anyone?” Asherah shouted. She should know, but she didn’t. She didn’t. She wanted to know but staring at Miriai’s face with the moon hanging behind her curls she was terrified of the answer. 

“If you were paying any attention at all you’d realize.”

“Realize what?!”

“Fuck you, Asherah!”

“Fuck you, Mir--hm!” 

Miriai was kissing her, plunging their lips together, stinging like salt on a wound. Miriai pressed her fingers into Asherah’s cheeks, and Asherah clutched at the back of Miriai’s shirt. The moonlight stained Miriai’s dark skin blue and when they broke apart, it was far more gently than they’d come together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Asherah and Miriai DO get married in the end, btw.


End file.
